Conduit Street Podcast

Instead of this week's regular Conduit Street Podcast, we're bringing you a bonus episode of The Briefing Room in response to a high-interest topic from our recent energy series. Data centers quickly became one of the most popular topics in our energy series, so Dom Butchko and Kevin Kinnally sat down with Kelly Schulz, CEO of the Maryland Tech Council, to take a deeper look at one of Ma...

Housing projects do not rise or fall only on land, design, or political will. They also rise or fall with the cost of capital, aka the capital stack.  In Episode 2 of The Briefing Room , Dom Butchko and Terry Hickey are joined by Brian McLaughlin, entrepreneur and Board Member of the Baltimore Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, to examine how interest rates, borrowing costs, inflation...

This month’s News or Noise dives into the biggest political developments coming out of Maryland’s June primary elections, and what they could mean for county government, legislative priorities, and the 2027 General Assembly. Kevin Kinnally, Michael Sanderson, and Karrington Anderson break down the latest chatter around a potential special session on redistricting, key legislative upsets, major cou...

After wrapping our series on Maryland’s energy future, The Briefing Room turns to another defining challenge for counties: housing. In Episode 1 of our new housing finance series, Dom Butchko is joined by Terry Hickey, Baltimore County’s Director of Housing & Community Development, to unpack the financial realities behind housing development. The conversation explores how affordable housing de...

This week on the Conduit Street Podcast, Michael Sanderson is joined by Steve Hobbs, Executive Director of the Missouri Association of Counties, for a conversation on the issues shaping county government across state lines From property tax pressures and housing affordability to short-term rentals, energy demands, data centers, and legislative term limits, Michael and Steve compare notes on the ch...

This week on the Conduit Street Podcast, Dominic Butchko and Kevin Kinnally record from the Conference of Southern County Associations (CSCA) in Williamsburg, Virginia, joined by county leaders and policy experts from across the South for a discussion on the issues shaping local government today. The conversation covers many of the same challenges counties face regardless of state lines, including...

In the final episode of The Briefing Room energy series, host Dom Butchko turns the conversation to Annapolis and the broader policy choices shaping Maryland’s energy future. Joined by Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo, Chair of the House Energy Subcommittee, the episode looks at how rising costs, reliability concerns, new generation needs, grid pressures, and local land-use questions are driving the...

In Episode 4 of The Briefing Room , we continue our five-part energy series with a closer look at one of the fastest-growing and most controversial issues facing state and local governments: data centers. Host Dom Butchko is joined by Joe Lerch, Director of Local Government Policy with the Virginia Association of Counties, to break down what data centers are, why Northern Virginia became the cente...

We're back with another special edition of the Conduit Street Podcast, with the MACo team taking up several issues from this month's headlines, and trying to sort out which are the real stories (news) and which are more smoke than fire (noise).  Hosts Kevin Kinnally, Michael Sanderson, and Dominic Butchko talk through data centers, special session rumors, property taxes, bond rating agen...

In Episode 3 of The Briefing Room , Maryland’s energy picture comes into sharper focus. Host Dom Butchko is joined by Public Service Commission Chair Kumar Barve to unpack one of the biggest questions facing the state: where does our power actually come from?  From fossil fuels and renewables to nuclear power and imported electricity, the conversation cuts through the complexity of Maryland’s ener...

This week on the Conduit Street Podcast, Kevin Kinnally and Michael Sanderson break down the recent vendor issue involving Maryland's mail-in ballots for the June 23 gubernatorial primary and walk through what county officials and voters need to know moving forward. The conversation explains how Maryland's election system is structured, why the State Board of Elections decided to send re...

In Episode 2 of The Briefing Room’s energy series, Dom Butchko sits down with Jason Stanek, Executive Director of Governmental Services at PJM Interconnection, to unpack the role of energy regions in Maryland’s power future.  The conversation breaks down what PJM is, how it works with states and local governments, why the interconnection queue has drawn so much attention, and what improvements are...

In this episode of the Conduit Street Podcast, host Dom Butchko sits down with Senator Sara Love for a wide-ranging conversation on public service, legislative strategy, and the issues shaping Maryland policy. Senator Love discusses her path to elected office, her approach to preparation and legislating, and the priorities that guide her work in Annapolis. The conversation also explores her leader...

This week on the Conduit Street Podcast , Kevin Kinnally and Dominic Butchko sit down with Dr. Mileah Kromer, director of the Institute of Politics at UMBC, to break down the latest UMBC Poll releases and what they reveal about Maryland voters heading into the 2026 election cycle. The conversation covers affordability pressures, trust in government, public safety, confidence in institutions, and h...

The Conduit Street Podcast is launching something new. Introducing The Briefing Room, a new limited series designed to take a deeper dive into the complex policy issues shaping Maryland’s counties. In this first episode, host Dominic Butchko kicks off a multi-part series on energy policy, starting with the fundamentals: how the system works, who the key players are, and why it matters for local go...

This week on the Conduit Street Podcast, longtime hosts Kevin Kinnally and Michael Sanderson are "back in the saddle" with a post-session "news or noise" breakdown of what really mattered, and what didn't, from Maryland's 2026 legislative session. From a quieter-than-usual budget process to major issues left unresolved, the duo sorts through big-picture takeaways and...

This Week on the Conduit Street Podcast, we bring you an episode fresh from Sine Die to break down the 2026 legislative session from start to finish. With major leadership shakeups before session even began, a fast-moving 90 days, and plenty of last-minute fireworks, this year was anything but predictable. Hosts Dom Butchko, Sarah Sample, and Karrington Anderson walk through the biggest storylines...

This week on the Conduit Street Podcast, Kevin Kinnally sits down with Maryland State Administrator of Elections, Jared DeMarinis, to cut through the noise surrounding recent federal election activity and what it actually means for Maryland. From executive orders to the SAVE Act to mail ballots, misinformation, AI deepfakes, and voter outreach, this conversation tackles what’s real, what isn’t, an...

This week on the Conduit Street Podcast, Kevin Kinnally and Michael Sanderson break down where Maryland’s budget and “Big BRFA” stand as the General Assembly enters its final weeks. As usual, their conversation covers a wide range of issues. From the teacher pension cost shift and assisted outpatient treatment proposal to disparity grant funding, the 911 Trust Fund, emergency management readiness,...

As Maryland’s legislative session approaches crossover, MACo’s policy team is deep in the work of shaping legislation that affects counties across the state. In this episode of the Conduit Street podcast, Michael Sanderson is joined by Karrington Anderson and Charlotte Fleckenstein (making her podcast debut), as they walk through what advocacy looks like in real time. From testifying on complex la...

This week on the Conduit Street Podcast, we check in on the 2026 Maryland General Assembly session as lawmakers approach the critical crossover deadline. MACo’s Michael Sanderson, Dominic Butchko, and Kevin Kinnally break down where things stand in Annapolis, including the state budget outlook, mounting fiscal pressure on legislation, and a surge of housing bills aimed at addressing affordability...

On this episode of the Conduit Street Podcast, Michael Sanderson sits down with Dr. Roger E. Hartley of the University of Baltimore’s College of Public Affairs for a wide-ranging discussion on the future of public service in Maryland. Hartley reflects on his decade as dean and discusses how institutions of higher learning can better partner with state and local governments to strengthen leadership...

As Maryland lawmakers weigh how to address a looming transportation “cliff,” local leaders are sounding the alarm about what’s at stake for local roads and bridges. In this special episode of the Conduit Street Podcast, hosts Michael Sanderson and Shantelle Malcolm-Lym bring listeners inside the February 3 Senate Budget and Taxation Committee hearing on Senate Bill 288, legislation aimed at stabil...

In this week’s episode of the Conduit Street Podcast, our familiar hosts Kevin Kinnally and Michael Sanderson take the microphone to walk us through Governor Wes Moore’s proposed FY27 budget and the accompanying Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act – or as Michael likes to call it, “Big BRFA.” They break down the topline numbers, explain how the budget closes a projected shortfall, and examine...

As flu season intensifies and public health misinformation continues to circulate, counties remain on the front lines of protecting community health. In this episode of the Conduit Street Podcast, Michael Sanderson and Karrington Anderson are joined by Dr. Meena Brewster, Health Officer for St. Mary’s County, to discuss how local health departments operate as both strategists and first responders...